


Operation Wedding Party

by LerxstInSpace



Series: Broken Mirror-verse [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adashicember 2018, Alternate Reality Black Paladin Adam (Voltron), Established Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Fluff and Humor, M/M, Minor Allura/Lance (Voltron), Slav being Slav, Surprise Party, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 13:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17101211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LerxstInSpace/pseuds/LerxstInSpace
Summary: Shiro and Adam both thanked them and assured them that no, really, this was not going to be a big deal right now, no party or anything planned, they were just going to do the thing and then maybe go out for a long drive and dinner and then go home and be back at work the next day and do the actual [airquotes] wedding [end airquotes] with tuxedos and best men and a reception and all that fancy stuff when everything settled down.Ohhhhh no. They were absolutely getting a party. They just didn’t know it yet.The Paladins had two weeks to make this happen.[powersliding into Adashicember 21, 2018 with wedding fic]





	Operation Wedding Party

As it turned out, Pidge was ground zero for this whole thing.

Shiro sent her a curious message one morning--could she maybe fabricate a couple of small items for him, specs attached, name her price, and was two weeks enough of a heads-up?

She took a look at the attachments. First: one ring, such-and-such outer diameter, such-and-such inner diameter, yay tall, no decorative etching or any such thing, same blue-steel finish as Adam’s arm, didn’t have to be the same actual metal but he’d prefer something similar, something that could take a lot of abuse.

Second: one ring, blah blah outer diameter, blah blah inner diameter, this tall, also no decorative etc. Same white finish as Shiro’s arm, again, didn’t have to be the same actual material but the same durability requirements applied. Oh, and it had to be able to both fit over something slightly bigger than the inner diameter and somehow contract back to the original? However she had to do it was fine, go nuts.

Pidge squinted at the oddly casual tone of the e-mail and the attachments. She didn’t exactly have Shiro’s hand sitting here, so this was just an educated guess but… that sounded about right for something that needed to fit, say… his left ring finger? And the one that needed to fit over something slightly bigger and then contract… that sounded an awful lot like a special requirement for a ring that would have to fit the left ring finger of someone whose left arm was mostly metal.

She sat there for a while, just staring at the message and the attached specs, doing the math a hundred different ways and coming up with the same answer every time. And then she felt something in her brain just… just sort of...

_Pidge.exe has stopped working._

“OmiGOD,” she finally said once her brain rebooted, and she grabbed her phone. “Omigod. Ohhhmigod. Omigodomigodomigod--”

First, she very calmly sent Shiro a text: absolutely, not a problem, his money or other forms of payment or barter were no good here, and yes, that was plenty of time.

Then she pulled up the Paladins’ group chat, very carefully removed Shiro and Adam from the new message, and very calmly sent: _OMG OMG OMG U GUYS U GUYS SHIRO JUST ASKED ME TO MAKE TWO (2) RINGS AND I’M P. SURE THEY’RE WEDDING RINGS???_

 

* * *

 

 _“Hey, Shiro. Hey, Adam. Oh, Matt says hi and congratulations too, he said he’d try to send Ryan a video but… anyway. I just… I’ve built a lot of really wild stuff since we’ve known each other, huh? But I don’t think I’ll ever make anything again that I’m as proud of as your wedding rings. No, seriously, Adam’s was_ fun, _and I think I might be able to apply that mechanic to--”_

_“Pidge.”_

_“Ooh. Right. Sorry! Anyway… I’m just… really honored that you asked_ me _to do that for you, Shiro. I mean, you could have gone anywhere, had anyone else do it, anywhere in the universe and… you asked_ me _to make something that important for you. Thank you so much for letting me do that, it… it really means a lot to me.”_

_“Here. You need a tissue?”_

_“No? ...yeah. Thanks. Congratulations, guys.”_

 

* * *

 

Obviously, Keith would be the best candidate to do the recon on this. But as it happened, he didn’t have to do much recon at all. Because the next day, Shiro texted him and asked if he could clear a couple hours the morning of such-and-such a date, about two weeks away.

And sure, Keith texted back, that shouldn’t be a problem at all and might he ask _why?_ No reason, of course, just curious, just… asking for a friend? Or several friends? Two of whom were at that very moment literally hanging over his shoulder waiting on the response--well, okay, Lance was hanging over his shoulder and Allura was hanging over Lance’s shoulder but _guys come on could you please not?_

Well, Shiro texted back, barring any shit-vs.-fan events springing up, that day appeared to be the next day his and Adam’s schedules lined up just right and gave them both the same day off duty, and they needed to go to the chaplain’s office and they would need a witness and they wanted Keith to be that witness.

Keith assured him that yes, he could absolutely do that, and how hush-hush did he need to keep this _guys oh my God I’m excited too but would you please settle down? At least stop shrieking right in my ears_?

Not at all, Shiro assured him, they weren’t keeping it a secret or anything, it was just that they weren’t making a big deal out of it _right now,_ right now they just wanted to go ahead and make it official for assorted legal and logistical reasons and they’d have the actual [airquotes] _wedding_ [end airquotes] once Haggar/Honerva/whatever she was calling herself these days and the assorted Dead Galra Fan Clubs and the space pirates decided to settle down.

Keith hit the Group Chat Minus Shiro and Adam up while Lance and Allura continued to lose every last bit of their shit behind him: _WEDDING CONFIRMED_

 

* * *

 

_“Hey, Shiro! Hey, Adam! It’s us--”_

_“Congratulations, you two!”_

_“Man… what can I even say? Shiro, you’ve been the best Space Dad anyone could ever ask for. And Adam… oh wow, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for you. ...no. Really._ I would literally not be here right now.”

_“Ugh, please don’t remind me…  anyway, I’m so happy for both of you, and it’s been such an honor to know you both as Paladins and friends.“_

_“Hey, quick question, I’ve actually… never been to a wedding where it’s both guys? Do you do the thing with the bouquet or--no, you wouldn’t do the garter, right, you’re wearing pants--”_

_“The thing with the… what are you talking about?”_

_“Earth wedding stuff! Psst. Aim for Allura. ...or aim for me, whatever.”_

 

* * *

 

So at that point, all of the Paladins spammed the Paladins’ group chat with congratulatory messages, and Shiro and Adam both thanked them and assured them that no, really, this was not going to be a big deal right now, no party or anything planned, they were just going to do the thing and then maybe go out for a long drive and dinner and then go home and be back at work the next day and do the actual [airquotes] _wedding_ [end airquotes] with tuxedos and best men and a reception and all that fancy stuff when everything settled down.

Ohhhhh no. They were absolutely getting a party. They just didn’t know it yet.

The Paladins had two weeks to make this happen. So they blew up the Group Chat Minus Shiro and Adam with questions. Food? Gifts? Decorations? Music?

Shiro wouldn’t be picky about the food, about the only thing he really _hated_ was black licorice. Adam was slightly pickier, he didn’t really like sweets but he _loved_ black licorice and sometimes he liked dark chocolate. Which was going to make the cake tricky but if anyone could pull that off, it would be Hunk.

As for gifts… one of the reasons they were making this official was, they were getting tired of separate single officer dorm rooms and wanted to move into a house.

For one thing, Adam wanted an actual kitchen, he liked to try and cook dinner for himself and Shiro when he could because that was literally the only way to make sure Shiro ate an actual vegetable sometimes, and the kitchenette area in his dorm room was sub-optimal. Also there was the issue of certain small appliances being technically forbidden in the dorm rooms, and Keith was fairly sure Adam had… well, _all_ of them. Adam didn’t really care if he got caught with them because he knew perfectly well that the only real consequences would be a halfhearted “don’t let me see that toaster/electric skillet/pressure cooker/etc. again” from Iverson and maybe a note on his “permanent record” that literally nobody would give a shit about. But he _was_ kind of starting to run out of room for all that forbidden kitchen apparatus.

And then there was the simple fact was that Shiro and Adam were both grown adults, _neither_ of them small men, and, well…

Keith hadn’t asked and oh _hell_ no he wasn’t going to because the mere thought inspired the same _nope nu-uh no way not listening_ response most people have when they first become aware that their parents have probably Done It. But he had a feeling that Shiro and Adam were probably Doing It at this point, and the twin beds that came standard with the single officers’ quarters were probably starting to… nope, that was as far as he could ride that train of thought. No. Nope. Nu-uh. Never mind. _Never mind._

The point of all this was, they wanted to get into an actual house and they had to be actually for-real officially married to qualify for the “family” housing on base. The house would come with furniture and major appliances and stuff; Shiro had a TV and Adam had an audio setup and those forbidden kitchen appliances, and they both had coffee makers and laptops, but they’d definitely need some house stuff. So Keith started a list of common household necessities they might need and passed it around, and everyone added a few things to it.

Decorations? Adam’s favorite color was orange. Shiro’s was purple. They were both Black Paladins. Balloons and streamers and so on (assuming they could even _get_ such things right now, what with so many stores still recovering from the invasion) were going to make whatever venue they picked for this look like a Halloween party, but that was fine. Speaking of which… where were they going to do this? It’d have to be somewhere Shiro and Adam could be convinced to go without tipping them off to anything being amiss. Could they commandeer the situation room? Should they… should they maybe clear that with Iverson first?

Well, it was easier to get forgiveness than permission.

 

* * *

 

_“Shiro… Adam… I, uh… you know I’m not good at this kind of stuff but…  I mean… we all knew you were going to get married sooner or later, you’d think we would have been, I don’t know, maybe trying to think of something to say about it when you did? Heh. But, well…_

_“You know… for most of my life you were the only family I really had. Both of you. And… I’m so proud that you both thought of me as family, and I’m so grateful for everything you both did for me. And after everything that’s happened to both of you… I’m just glad you found each other again. Congratulations, guys. I love you.”_

 

* * *

 

T-minus twelve days.

“Hunk, status report on the cake?”

“Got a short list of recipes, this’d be easier if we could actually like… have a proper cake tasting thing but…”

“We’ll manage. Pidge, can you handle the cake topper? Like… you can 3D print something, right?”

“Already on it. Romelle said she can paint it for us. Oh, and Shiro’s ring is ready but I’m still working on Adam’s, his is kinda complicated.”

“If anyone can make it work, you can. Lance, you’re on music detail--”

“Six different playlists ready to go, but I’m gonna need help getting my stereo up here.”

“See if you can find someone to give you a ride with it, but I can, uh _… borrow_ Shiro’s car if we need to.” Wouldn’t be the first time.

“Cool. Do they have… y’know, a Their Song?”

“Eeh... they _did,_ but I don’t know if they had the _same_ Their Song in both realities so… don’t stress about that?”

“Question--” Allura’s hand went up. “Shouldn’t the MFE pilots be in on this? Since Adam flies with them so much…”

Ooh. Right.

 

* * *

 

_“Hey, Shiro. Hey, Adam, I just… I just wanna… no, okay. Okay. I’m okay. Can we start over?”_

_“Yeah, I can edit it down, no problem. Take your time.”_

_“Okay. Wait… okay. I’m good. ...no, wait. Waitwaitwait. ...sorry, sorry… it’s just--”_

_“Hunk. Hey. It’s okay. You need a tissue? ...you know what, take the whole box.”_

_“Th-thanks… Ahem. Okay. Congratu--aw, you guys… I’m just--I’m so happy for you guys, you know that?”_

_“Aw, man… okay. C’mere, big guy.”_

 

* * *

 

As luck would have it, Ryan happened to wander into the kitchen while Hunk was doing mad cake science later that morning, and inquiries were made about why he was doing mad cake science and why he was focusing on recipes involving dark chocolate and non-buttercream types of icing, and one thing led to another…

 

* * *

 

_“Hey, Commander Wolf. It’s me, your favorite future leg--”_

_“Oh God, Nadia, can you_ not!?”

_“James says hi! Hey, remember that time right after you got back? When you rode backseat with him and he let you take the stick for a few minutes and you pulled a full-on Vomit Comet on him? Heh. Yeah. So does he. We won’t let him forget. It was hilarious.”_

_“Excuse me? I’m RIGHT HERE?”_

_“Hey--hey, James, why don’t you quit yelling off screen and come over here? You too, Ina.”_

_“What about you?”_

_“Already did mine. Where were we?”_

_“I believe you were reminding James yet again of the time a backseat pilot made him throw up in his own fighter, which I agree was hilarious and must never be forgotten but... I don’t think that’s what this video is supposed to be about?”_

_“Heh. Yeah, okay. This is about_ you _and Captain Shirogane and--wait, is he still gonna be Captain Shirogane? Or Commander Wolf? How are they doing the--the name thing?”_

_“I think they’re doing each others’ last names as middle names? I wanna say Commander Wolf said that’s what they did in his reality so… anyway, this is running kinda long so...”_

_“Oh, right. Sorry, Ryan. AHEM. Anyway. Congratulations, you two. From your favorite future leg and… all these other wacky appendages.”_

 

* * *

 

Long story short: the MFE pilots were apprised of the situation, and plans were made for a very special wedding present.

And then, at the first opportunity, the MFE pilots told their handler what was going on...

 

* * *

 

 _“Hey, guys. Remember that time I stood guard outside the lecture hall so you two could make out in there? Remember how Iverson read me the riot act about loitering in the hallway and he never even knew you guys were there?_ I remember. _You still owe me for that and someday…_ I’m going to collect. _Or I’ll just send Lance to collect, he owes me too. Until then… congratulations, guys. You’re still the cutest couple in the Garrison. Love you both.”_

 

* * *

 

...and Veronica told the _Atlas_ bridge crew…

 

* * *

 

 _“Wow, um… I don’t even know where to start but… Captain Shirogane, it’s been such an honor serving with you on the_ Atlas… _it hasn’t always been easy--well, heh, it’s_ never _been easy but no matter how rough things get out there… having you on the bridge just kind of makes it a little easier for me to--for us to believe it’s all going to be okay, you know? You’re a great leader and a great person, and..._

 _“And Adam… you’ll never know how much it hurt us to lose you, not just as a pilot but as a teacher and a--a friend, and how glad I--how glad we are to have you back. Oh hey, if you get some downtime the chorus could_ really _use you back at the piano, we’ve got a guy but… I mean, he’s okay but… I guess you kinda spoiled us..._

_“Well, anyway, I just wanted to say, um… I’m really happy for both of you. I mean that. After everything that’s happened you… you both deserve the best, and, well… you both got it. Congratulations, guys.”_

_“Hey. You okay?”_

_“Huh? Oh--heh, yeah. Y’know. Weddings, right?”_

_“All right, man. Thanks, Curtis.”_

 

* * *

 

T-minus four days.

“Hunk, give me some good news.”

Hunk stood up and cleared his throat. “The cake: black velvet--made with dark cocoa and espresso and almost _no_ food coloring, thank you very much--with cream cheese icing...” He paused and savored the chorus of _oooh_ s that followed. “And Romelle brought me the topper this morning and you guys. You guys. It is _so_ cool. It looks _just like them._ She even put a little piece of power crystal in it so all the glowy parts actually glow, it is _awesome._ As for the rest of the menu, this is a casual thing so I’m sticking with small plate stuff. Pork gyoza, assorted two-bite quiches, spring rolls with peanut sauce… oh, and, uh... ” He looked a little embarrassed. “Cocktail weenies... but they’ll be in scratch-made barbeque sauce because what are we, animals?”

“Jeez, Hunk... _that’s_ what you make for a ‘casual thing?’”

“...yyyyyyyes? _”_

“Holy crap. Okay. Are you gonna need help in the kitchen, or are you good?”

“Coran already volunteered… oh, and Vrepit Sal owes me a favor. I think we’ve got it covered?”

“You’re the man. Pidge? How’s Adam’s ring coming?”

“Done. Shiro picked them up last night, he loves them, texted me this morning and said Adam loves them, we’re good.”

“Awesome. Okay… Ryan says there are a few people he’s missing and he’s not sure if he’ll be able to get them in time so he’s going to bring a camera and catch them at the party, and then he wants to try and hold out for Matt to send something, and he’ll still need to edit it together… so he’ll give it to them soon as it’s done. How are we coming on decorations?”

“Bad news: the party stores are still pretty wiped out, they still haven’t really gotten back on their feet after the invasion.” Lance grinned. “The good news: they got plenty of leftover Halloween stuff, which is all--you guessed it--orange, purple, and black and since it’s way out of season they pretty much just gave it to us. We grabbed everything that didn’t actually have pumpkins or whatever on it. ”

“Oh man, lucky. How about the actual putting the decorations up part?”

“My team’s got that covered,” James said. Ryan was busy getting Romelle and Coran’s message off on the sidelines, but he shot Keith a thumbs-up anyway.

“...wow. Okay. Thanks, man. All right, as for gifts--they _said_ they don’t need anything for the house but... we all know that’s bullshit, right?” A little wave of laughter rippled through the room. “There’s a list on the table, nothing real fancy on it, mostly dishes and silverware and towels and stuff, if you can bring something put your name down next to it so we know who’s got what and they don’t end up with like… a hundred towels and a fork. Like Lance said, the stores are still pretty bare and even the BX is still kinda flaky on some stuff so honestly I think secondhand will be fine. Or maybe bring them a little plant they can take with them on the _Atlas?_ Or a pretty space rock, or something to hang on the wall? But if you don’t have anything like that to spare or you can’t make anything don’t worry about it.”

 

* * *

 

_“Hello, Shiro! Hello, Adam!”_

_“Hello!”_

_“Congratulations to you both on your wedding! Now, ah… let me get this straight… this is the actual getting-married wedding that you’re doing… but you’re going to have_ another _wedding after all the, uh… trouble settles down? And that one… won’t actually be a getting-married wedding because you’ve already done that but it’ll be all the fancy ceremonial bits? Which you’re ...not doing now?”_

 _“I think what they’re doing right now is just the… the_ official _bits? And the party thing isn’t actually part of it but… it_ is _part of it? But the fancy-ceremonial-bits wedding is what Earth people think of as the_ real _wedding and the just-the-official-bits wedding is… oh, Earth weddings are confusing just with_ two _people in them, I can’t imagine how complicated a tri-bonding would be...”_

_“Oh, also I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that I am not to bring any quantity of nunvill anywhere near this party. Really, what do you people even drink at a wedding if not--”_

_“Oh! Oh! I know this one, they’ve got something called ‘sham pain?’ But Allura said she’s not sure if they’ll have it, because Lance says most everyone there won’t be old enough.”_

_“What? Nonsense, they can hold their nunvill with the best of them…Well, anyway, we wish you the best!”_

_“Congratulations!”_

 

* * *

 

Sometime that afternoon, Keith hit up the brand new Group Chat Plus MFE Pilots And _Atlas_ Bridge Crew Minus Shiro and Adam: _WHO TOLD SLAV? FESS UP ugh nvm forget it can’t do anything abt it now_

 

* * *

 

 _“Vait. No. NonononoNO. You got too many of ze purple balloons on zis side and too many orange on_ zat _side!”_

_“There’s the same number of--Slav, c’mon, I’m gonna need you to lighten up, okay? This video is a wedding present, it’s not--”_

_“Lighten UP!? You haven’t even checked vith Hunk to make sure zhere’ll be an odd number of little cocktail veenies in ze chafing dish and zhey’ll all be pointing north-to-south, you don’t even know vhat color ze little TOOTHPICKS vill be, and you’re telling me to LIGHTEN UP!? Are you TRYING to ruin zheir marriage in every other reality!?”_

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, Pidge texted back: _sorry, my fault, I told Dad in person, didn’t know he was there :(_

 

* * *

 

_“Well, Katie says you already got her, and Matt sent us a video this morning, did you--”_

_“Got it. Thanks, Commander Holt.”_

_“Oh no, it’s our pleasure. Anyway--ahem. Shiro, Adam, congratulations on your wedding!”_

_“Congratulations, you two! I know you’ve known each other forever but… let me and Sam give you a little advice on maintaining a happy marriage, okay?”_

_“Right. Honesty, trust, and communication are the most important--”_

_“Earplugs.”_

_“...what?”_

_“Invest in a good pair of earplugs.”_

_“...I don’t snore, do I!?”_

_“No. Worse._ You do calculus out loud.”

_“...well, why haven’t you been recording that!?”_

_“Honey… anyway. We’re always here if you have questions, okay? Best wishes to you both.”_

 

* * *

 

T-minus fourteen hours.

“Hunk, can you get the cake down here by yourself?”

“Eeh… I _could_ but… there’s the other food too and I’d rather have an extra set of hands? Maybe two?”

“You’ve got mine!”

“Mine too!”

“All right. You’ve got Allura and Curtis. Thanks, guys. Lance, how’s the music situation?”

“Veronica can bring the stereo up in the morning--wait, what time are they doing this again?”

“Ah--” Keith checked his phone. “They said meet them at the chaplain’s office at 0930, they’ve gotta do some paperwork and stuff before they actually do the thing so at that point you’ve got… I’m gonna guess about an hour? You know what, I have no idea. Anyone here know how long it takes to get married?”

Coran’s hand went up. “Let’s see… Altean standard two-party wedding… minus they’re not Altean… plus the traditional symbolic exchange of footwear, they do only have the two feet apiece, don’t they... carry the zumflot, give or take an interpretive dance or two--”

“Okay. Thanks, Coran, but this is kind of a quick version of it, so…”

Nadia raised a hand. “My cousin got married at the chaplain’s office, it took… yeah, like you said, about an hour? Might depend on how busy they are but… that sounds about right.”

“Okay, awesome, thanks. Anyway, I’ll ping the group chat when we’re en route.”

“Question--” Ina’s hand went up. “How are you going to get them to come _here?”_

Keith winced a little at that. “I… haven’t quite figured out how to--”

_“What the hell is going on in here!?”_

Ah, shit. _Iverson._

“Who’s responsible for all of--whatever this is?”

“I am.” Well, Keith _was_ the leader here, wasn’t he? “Sorry, Admiral Iverson, but Captain Shirogane and Commander Wolf are getting married tomorrow morning, and...” He shrugged.

“Well, they didn’t clear this with _me,”_ Iverson snapped. “This is a Garrison facility, not a reception hall!”

“That’s on _me,_ sir. They don’t know we’re doing this.”

“...they don’t.”

“No, sir.”

“So… a surprise party.”

“Yes, sir.”

A very long, very tense silence. Then Iverson raised an eyebrow.

“Have you figured out how you’re going to get them in here without them catching on yet?”

 

* * *

 

 _“Captain Shirogane, Commander Wolf… listen, I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to work with… hell, who are we kidding, I’ve_ never _been the easiest person to work with. And I’ve made some mistakes, and done some things I’m not proud of. Commander Wolf, I, ah… for what it’s worth, I especially want to apologize to you, for what we did to you when you first showed up here, and for what we were thinking about doing to you. I’m glad you’re back, and I’m damn proud of both of you. Congratulations to you both.”_

 

* * *

 

T-minus one hour, give or take an interpretive dance or two.

“Okay, guys. Everyone remember-- _not a sound until the lights come on.”_

“Got it.”

“I still say ve should move two orange balloons to _zat_ side--”

“Slav, it’s _fine,_ leave them alone! _Slav! Get down from there!”_

“Guys! Come on. _Focus._ Can someone peel Slav off the ceiling, please? Thanks, Ryan. Admiral Iverson, how exactly were you going to--”

“Son, just shut up and _trust me.”_

“Okay then.” Keith brushed nonexistent lint off his uniform and buffed a nonexistent smudge off his shoe and let out a deep breath. “All right. This is it. See you in a little while.”

He left the situation room and checked the time.

 

* * *

 

 _“Oh man, sorry, we’re kinda in the middle of something out here and I gotta make this quick but… hey, congratulations! Adam, I never really knew you that well but… Katie said I was_ your _Green Paladin? Wow… listen, I know some bad stuff happened in your reality and if you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool but… if you’re okay with it… maybe next time we cross paths we could catch up?_

_And hey, Shiro… man, after everything that’s happened… I’m really happy for you. If it wasn’t for you, well--“_

_“Matt, we’re moving out.”_

_“Oop, gotta go. See you when I see you, guys.”_

 

* * *

 

 _FYI it takes 18 minutes to walk from the sit. rm. to the chap’s office,_ Keith posted to the group chat nineteen minutes later. _That’s how long you’ve got next time you hear from me._ And then he turned his phone off.

Shiro and Adam showed up a few minutes later in their uniforms, holding flesh-and-blood hands, and they both broke out in great big grins when they saw Keith waiting there for them.

“Hey,” Shiro said, sweeping him into a big hug. “Thanks for doing this for us.”

“It’s an honor,” Keith said, clapping Shiro on the back.

And when Shiro let him go, Adam took over. “Hey, kiddo. I know you’re a little too big to be a ring bearer but--”

“Are you kidding?” Keith laughed and held out his hand once Adam let him go, and Shiro reached into his pocket and handed him a little cloth bag. _“It’s fine._ Hell, if you can find me a basket of rose petals--”

“You heard him,” Adam said with a wink. “We’ll save that for the _wedding_ wedding.”

“Well…” Keith opened the door and held it open for them. “After you?”

 

* * *

 

The current Garrison chaplain was a sweet little round-faced white-haired lady who radiated _grandma_ vibes from two rooms away. Her office even gave off _grandma_ vibes--right down to the half-finished knitted thing sitting on the corner of her desk--and although Keith had never really had a grandma that he could remember, he still half-expected her to pinch his cheeks and give him lots of candy and maybe some really loud toys to take home.

She brought out things for Shiro and Adam to sign and a thing for Keith to sign, and once they were done she picked up all the paperwork… and did a double-take.

“...Commander Wolf? Hon, you, uh… you already changed your name?”

Keith bit his tongue, and Shiro and Adam just exchanged a look. “It’s, uh…” Adam cleared his throat. “It’s a long story?”

“...well, all righty then. If everyone’s ready, come on back with me and we’ll get started.”

Shiro squeezed Adam’s hand. “Ready?”

Adam squeezed back. “I’ve _been_ ready.”

The chapel itself was small and quiet. Thick dark carpet, plain dark wood walls, lights in the ceiling whose color could be changed. Right now they were soft warm white. Depending on who was doing what at any given time, there might be chairs or there might be cushions or there might be mats. Right now there were chairs, and fresh flowers and candles on the table up front.

Keith took a seat in the front row; the chaplain stood in front of the table, and Shiro and Adam took their places in front of her, facing one another and clasping hands--metal to metal, flesh to flesh.

For a moment, Keith wished he’d thought to ask Ryan to lend him a camera, or just to come along, but… no. It didn’t seem right. As far as Adam and Shiro were concerned, right now they were the only two people in the universe, and that feeling wasn’t something you could capture on video.

“Commander Adam Shirogane Wolf… do you take this man to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish as long as you both shall live?”

Keith had to bite his tongue, because the chaplain couldn’t have known it, but there was an unspoken _again_ on the end of those vows.

“I do.” Adam’s voice cracked just a little and… oh no. _Don’t do it, Adam,_ Keith silently begged, _don’t do it, if you cry Shiro’s gonna cry and then_ I’m _gonna cry…_

“Captain Takashi Shirogane… do you take this man to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish as long as you both shall live?”

Shiro squeezed both of Adam’s hands. “I do.”

The chaplain gave a little chuckle and patted them both on the shoulders. _Grandma vibes at maximum._ “And now I believe we have some rings, don’t we?”

Keith stood up, took that little bag out of his pocket, and shook the rings Pidge had made them into his hand. It was the first time he’d seen them in person, and they were perfect. One dark blue-gray steel to match Adam’s arm, one white to match Shiro’s.

He held out his hand to Adam; Adam took the steel ring and slipped it onto Shiro’s left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

Shiro took the white ring and--okay, Keith was actually dying to see how this was going to work, on account of Adam’s robot left arm, so he leaned in just a little. Shiro slipped the ring onto Adam’s left ring finger; it passed over the knuckle and sat at the base of his finger, clearly too loose for it.

“Okay,” Shiro said with a little laugh, “Pidge showed me how to do this--”

“There’s a--a thing,” Adam offered, turning the ring around as if he was looking for something. “Oh, there it is.”

“Gotcha.” There was an almost invisible little round mark on the ring. Shiro tapped it three times with his fingertip and with a quick, soft, high-pitched little mechanical buzz, Adam’s ring tightened around the base of his finger.

“Well!” The chaplain bubbled out a laugh. “Never seen one do _that_ before!”

Keith grinned and stepped back. _You did good, Pidge._

“Now then…” The chaplain gave them all a radiant little grandma smile. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you lawfully wedded husbands.”

They didn’t wait to be told to kiss, and really, could anyone blame them? After everything they’d both been through, could anyone blame them?

Keith sure didn’t.

 

* * *

 

Keith overheard something curious on the way out--the chaplain’s aide telling the chaplain that Admiral Iverson was on the phone, something about needing some sort of documentation sent to Admin _immediately?_

Huh. Whatever.

The three of them stepped back out into the hallway, and Shiro threw his arms around Adam’s shoulders and let out a soft, breathy laugh. “Feel better?” he asked Adam, and Adam just hung on and nodded. Yeah… from Adam’s point of view they were already married, they’d _been_ married, this was just… just a formality, just straightening up one of the little pieces of this reality that wasn’t quite right.

“So,” Keith said, trying to sound casual, “no big plans for the rest of the day?”

“Eh.” Adam shook his head as Shiro let him go. “We heard the movie theater’s open again, there’s probably nothing new to show yet but we might go see what’s on.”

“Uh huh…” Keith still had no idea what Iverson had up his sleeve, but he sent a quick message to the group chat anyway: _done, en route._

“If there’s nothing worth seeing, we’ll probably just…” Shiro waved a hand. ‘Go for a drive out in the desert or something. Then just grab some dinner, go home, and be back at it in the morning like normal.”

“Sounds great.” Whatever Iverson was going to do, he needed to hurry up and do it, or else Keith was going to have to wing it.

“Hey, we need to go by Admin and do the housing stuff,” Adam reminded him. “And change _your_ name. And _you_ need to get us a new cabin on th--”

_“All Paladins, MFE pilots, and Atlas bridge crew to the situation room! On the double!”_

Keith’s phone pinged immediately after that announcement went out, with a text from ... _Iverson!?_

_I told you to trust me._

Keith couldn’t quite keep a straight face, but at least he did a passable job of feigning surprise. Actually, he didn’t have to feign much. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting Iverson to pull, but _that_ sure as hell wasn’t it...

But it looked like it was going to work. “Really?” Adam groaned, and Shiro just shook his head and squeezed his hand. _“Now!?”_

“Well, at least whoever’s starting crap this time waited until we were done getting married?”

“Hey,” Keith said, “I’ll run on ahead and let them know you’re on the way.” He took two steps, then turned back around. _“Walk slow.”_

Shiro and Adam just looked at each other for a second.

“I mean,” Shiro finally said, “we’ve got a _pretty_ good excuse for being a little late…”

 

* * *

 

“Just me!” Keith came skidding into the situation room seventeen minutes later. “I told them to walk slow but you know them, we’ve got maybe thirty seconds so cut the chatter and get ready to--”

Keith was barely in position when the door slid open again, throwing Shiro and Adam’s shadows into the darkened room.

“...the hell?” Shiro could probably see a _little_ on account of his glowing shoulder, but Keith had made good and sure to position all the important stuff as far away from the door as possible and out of shoulder-glowing range. “Hello?”

“Anyone home?” That was Adam. “Okay. This isn’t ri--”

Keith hit the lights.

“Wh--”

“What the--”

They both stood there in a daze for a few seconds as their brains tried to process whatever just happened.

Adam snapped to it first. “Oh my _God...”_ He turned and hid his face against Shiro’s shoulder, and even at this distance Keith could see him grinning like a loon--and could also see his ears turning purple. And that was the last piece of the puzzle for Shiro; he just laughed and wrapped his arm around Adam’s shoulders.

“Guys…” Shiro’s eyes lit on the balloons and streamers, then the table pushed up against a wall and loaded with food, then the _cake,_ then… then on _everyone._ All of the Paladins, all of the MFE pilots, all of the _Atlas_ bridge crew and… and then he spotted _Iverson._ “Um. Sir?” Shiro cleared his throat and Keith knew that look on his face, it was the one he got when he ran across something so _weird_ he just didn’t have words to describe how weird it was. “Is this… Did _you--”_

“Nah. _There’s_ your ringleader.” Iverson nodded in Keith’s direction. “I was just the bait. Oh, I also brought the bubbly and _\--hey!_ Don’t point that at your face! Give me that before you lose an eye! What the hell-- _son, are you even twenty-one?_ ”

Shiro just sort of smushed his mouth against the top of Adam’s head to muffle his laughter, and Adam made a weird little choking noise and sunk his teeth into his lower lip as Iverson damn near vaulted over a few chairs to take a bottle of champagne away from James. And all of that almost set Keith off because, well, first of all… Iverson lecturing _anyone_ about losing an eye…

But Iverson got that cork and two more popped without anyone _else_ losing any more eyes, and Hunk had found a stash of champagne glasses in one of the storerooms the day before, and Curtis had to give Coran a little instruction on how to pour because no, this was not nunvill (and thank God for that), it had bubbles and needed to be handled a little more delicately. But they filled glasses and passed them around the room, and then everyone stood there and waited for someone to say something.

Actually, they all stared at Iverson and waited for _him_ to say something.

“What? Don’t look at _me,”_ he finally said, “all _I’ve_ got to say is, I know I can count on one hand the number of people in this room old enough to drink, but this is a _special occasion_ and I am looking the other way for the time it will take you to drink _one_ glass of champagne. And for God’s sake _don’t do anything stupid.”_ He gestured at Keith with his glass. “I think _he’s_ the one you’re waiting on.”

Keith winced at that. Okay. Yeah. Iverson was being _way_ too nice about this whole thing, there was going to be a price to pay sooner or later, wasn’t there? He cleared his throat and held up his glass. “Uh. You guys, uh… you know I’m not great at this kind of stuff but… I know you were just planning on getting married and just going on about your day but… you’ve got a lot of people here who are really happy for you and... well, we can’t wait until things settle down to show you, is all. So… here’s to you. Congratulations, guys.” He took a sip.

Shiro and Adam clinked their glasses together and did likewise, and everyone else followed suit.

“Okay, _listen up!”_ Iverson barked. “I want you all to have fun but _this room better be cleaned top to bottom and put back together exactly as it was by 0900 tomorrow!_ ”

 

* * *

 

All of the food was amazing because of course it was (even if Slav did keep recounting the cocktail weenies and adjusting--read: eating--as necessary to keep the required odd number of weenies in the tray). and again, if _this_ was what Hunk did for a casual thing _what the hell was he going to unleash at the actual wedding!?_

But the cake. Oh, holy shit, the _cake._

Obviously Pidge wouldn’t have had time to actually 3D-scan Shiro and Adam for the topper and wouldn’t have been able to do it without tipping them off anyway, but she made do with minor edits to generic models and Romelle did the rest.

And it was, as Hunk said, _perfect._ On top of the cake stood a little plastic Shiro and Adam, flesh-and-blood hands joined, with Shiro in his Garrison uniform and Adam in his Paladin armor and his helmet under his free arm. And the really wild part was, Romelle had put a little piece of power crystal in it so Shiro’s shoulder and elbow and all the glowy bits of Adam’s armor actually glowed.

They almost didn’t want to cut the cake, but then they did, and...

Keith knew the cake would be awesome. He had been a _little_ concerned that the all-white icing would be a little plain even for a casual thing, but when they cut into it and found that deep rich _black_ black velvet cake inside… _wow._ And of course it would taste as amazing as it looked, but nobody else was getting a piece until Shiro and Adam did.

Shiro wanted to do the thing where they fed it to each other, but Adam had… _concerns._

“Takashi, I swear to God if you smash that into my face... “

“I’m not gonna smash it into your face!”

“You did last time!”

“That was _alternate reality me!_ Besides, if I did that then I’d have to let _you_ do it and this is my last clean uniform. C’mon. Trust me.”

“...oh, okay.”

Nobody got cake smashed into their face, and even Adam, who didn’t have much in the way of a sweet tooth, had a second piece.

 

* * *

 

 _“Slav!_ Hey, where’s Slav? Has anyone seen Slav?”

“Ah shit, he’s trying to rearrange the balloons again--Ryan?”

“Got him.”

“Thanks. ...how the hell is he even getting up there!?”

 

* * *

 

Shiro tried to protest when he saw the pile of gifts, but Adam gently elbowed him in the arm and told him to hush.

Wrapping paper and other such items were scarce right now. Many of the gifts were either unwrapped or just had a bow stuck on; the ones that were wrapped were either in bags decorated with whatever paints or markers or glitter could be found or wrapped in plain or hilariously out-of-season paper. So right away, Adam spotted a few things he was definitely interested in.

“I see sheets,” he said. “We need sheets.”

“We’ve got sheets.”

“We’ve got _twin sheets?_ The house’ll come with a _queen?”_

“...ooh, right.”

Iverson checked his phone, then excused himself for a few minutes while Shiro and Adam opened their gifts.

Yes, there were several sets of sheets. And towels, and dishes, and silverware. There were multiple pairs of matching his-and-his coffee mugs. Hunk’s family contributed a spare set of basic cookware and a good chef knife, plus a coupon for one week’s worth of freezer meals. The Holts brought a homebrew media server and a couple of plants Colleen assured them were best cared for by putting them somewhere near a window and maybe spritzing them with water when they remembered to. Lance and Allura gave them a little concrete garden figurine of a lion--not a Voltron lion, just a regular Earth lion--painted black.

Ryan handed them an envelope containing a card that read _IOU one (1) gift._ “I still gotta do some work on it,” he explained. “I’ll just give it to Commander Wolf next time he flies with us.”

And then Iverson came back in with another envelope.

Shiro opened it and took out a sticky note. He frowned at it and showed it to Adam; Adam just shrugged and shook his head.

“What is it?” Keith asked them.

“It’s just got an an on-base address on it,” Adam said. Then Shiro frowned at it.

“Wait. That’s in the family housing area--”

Iverson scratched at the back of his head. “Someone may have ...gently lit a fire under Admin to sort of… _expedite your housing application._ No idea who.”

“We haven’t even _applied,_ ” Shiro said. “We were going to do that tomorrow--”

“Well, _someone_ put in an application for you this morning. Also the locks have already been set with your biometrics so you can move right in. Again, no idea who’s responsible for that.”

Adam and Shiro just looked at each other for a minute. “Well,” Adam finally said, “if you find out, tell them we said thanks, and also that we might take back a few things we’ve said about them.”

Shiro gently elbowed _him_ in the arm.

 

* * *

 

Keith had maybe had some doubts about putting Lance in charge of music, but… he did good.

All this time, there’d been some nice unobtrusive instrumental music playing in the background at just a high enough volume to make this feel like a party and not a briefing--really, Keith didn’t even notice it until he found himself standing close to one of the speakers.

But they’d pushed the big table up against the wall and scooted all the chairs around the edges of the room and left that nice open space in the middle for a reason, hadn’t they?

Keith suddenly realized he had not personally vetted Lance’s choice of first dance song, and he felt his blood run cold for a second.

On the one hand, so far Lance’s musical offerings had been nothing short of perfect.

On the other… this was, after all, Lance.

It was too late to say anything to him out loud, though. Shiro had already led Adam out into the middle of the room, and they were having the playful little argument they _always_ had over dancing...

“Oh, come on. I wanna lead.”

“Nuh uh.”

“I outrank you.”

“I’m taller.”

Shiro grinned and held out a fist. “Settle this the old-fashioned way?”

Adam grinned back and held out his own. “You’re on. One, two, _three!_ ”

Shiro threw rock, because he _always_ threw rock, and of course Adam knew that. But Shiro still had to feign disappointment, because that was after all how this thing they did was supposed to go, and Adam just laughed and slid his arm around Shiro’s waist.

“You can lead next song,” he said, dispensing Shiro’s consolation prize: a kiss on the forehead.

Keith just held his breath and hoped like hell Lance hadn’t picked anything inappropriate (in _any_ sense of the word).

Two seconds into the song, he let it out. It wasn’t the original, it was an acoustic cover, just a guitar and one male voice, and it was perfect.

 

 _When the night has come_  
_And the land is dark_  
_And the moon is the only light we'll see_  
_No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid_ _  
Just as long as you stand, stand by me..._

 

Shiro and Adam seemed to think so too. They pulled each other close, foreheads touching, and Adam even seemed to be singing along.

Keith shot Lance a thumbs-up, and Lance returned it with the arm that wasn’t around Allura’s shoulders.

This hadn’t been Their Song in this reality, Keith knew that much, and it may or may not have been Their Song in Adam’s reality. But as it ended, Shiro pulled Adam down for a kiss that lasted well into the next song and Keith got the feeling it had just become a new Their Song for both of them.

 

* * *

 

The food was running out, the last of the cake had been packed up and the icing washed off the topper for Shiro and Adam to take home, and a lot of the guests still had work to do that day. So the party started winding down later in the afternoon.

“Guys…” Shiro held the door open as Hunk went out with a double armload of gifts. Adam and Lance stood on the other side of the room, presumably swapping  playlist links. “Are you sure you don’t want us to help clean up?”

“Oh _hell_ no,” Keith said. “You’re not cleaning up after your own wedding party, c’mon. We’ve got it. You’ve got a house to move into. Speaking of which, uh… I’m gonna help Hunk and Ryan pack all this stuff up in your car, be back in a few.”

“Slav, _no!_ Get down from--DROP THE FORK, SLAV!”

There was a series of popping noises, then silence.

“Ohhhh _no…_ now I’ve done it, now zhere are too many _purple_ balloons on _zat_ side… vait, I’ll fix it--”

_“SLAV!”_

Well, at least there weren’t quite as many balloons to take down now...

 

* * *

 

“You knew he was going to do that.”

Shiro squeezed Adam’s hand and laughed as they stepped out into the parking lot. “No, I really didn’t. I just want to know how the hell he got _Iverson_ on board…”

“Or where the hell Iverson found three bottles of champagne…” Adam shook his head. “Eh, I guess I shouldn’t give him too hard a time anymore, he got us a house.” He laid his head on Shiro’s shoulder and beamed up at him. “I mean, at least we don’t have to spend our wedding night squeezed onto one of the singles--”

“Hey, that’s half the fun. ...wait.” Shiro stopped in his tracks. “What the hell…”

“What?” And then Adam saw it… and he _lost it._

 _Someone,_ Shiro was just spitballing here but if he had to guess those someones were probably named Hunk, Ryan, and Keith, but _someone_ had… had a little fun with Shiro’s car.

Empty cans tied to the back bumper. Balloons and streamers on the front bumper and anywhere else they’d stay. And in big white letters on the rear windshield: _JUST MARRIED._

 

* * *

 

A week or so later, on one of Shiro’s rare off-duty days, Adam came home with an envelope Ryan gave him after they landed that afternoon. Inside it was a little plastic case, and inside that case was a storage card.

The card sat on the shelf next to the media server while Adam changed into a T-shirt and sweatpants, and while he made dinner in their much more spacious actual kitchen, and while they ate it at an actual kitchen table.

Once they finished their dinner and put the dishes in the dishwasher, Shiro plugged the card in and snuggled up with Adam on the couch to see what was on it.

There was one video file, named “Wedding Present.” Adam picked up the remote and hit “play.”

He and Shiro watched the first few minutes… then just looked at each other for a bit.

Adam hit “pause,” and Shiro got up to fetch a box of tissues. They were going to need them.

 

* * *

 

_“Hey, Commander Wolf, Captain Shirogane--Hunk told me what was going on this morning, and I ...kinda got an idea. You guys know I’m not much for talking, so I’m just gonna turn it over to the rest of these fine folks. As for me? I’ll just leave it at... congratulations.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Adam and Curtis were/are buddies, you can't change my mind. (I may be exploring that in great detail in a fic outside this verse in the near future)
> 
> Also, this is the cake, imagine it's had some espresso added in somehow: http://erinbakes.com/black-velvet-cake-recipe/


End file.
